1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the field of pool skimming and more particularly, to a swimming pool skimmer which is snapped into the pool's skimmer opening which leads to the skimmer basket.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional swimming pool installation usually incorporates a pump and filter located adjacent the pool for circulating and filtering the pool water. In these arrangements, one or more skimmers are usually provided which are adapted to skim off the upper surface of the pool water and pass it to the pump-filter assembly for filtering and recirculation. The amount of pool water skimmed is usually controlled by a floating weir associated with each skimmer which is responsive to the level of water in the pool to insure that only a predetermined amount of water from the upper surface of the swimming pool will be introduced into the skimmer.
There are numerous devices available for skimming water surfaces. The automatic skimming provided by a pool's circulation system through the surface drain is very slow and may take hours to process, to the best of its ability, the surface water that does pass through it. In addition, this type of skimming has been found to be ineffective against the lighter, more buoyant, detridus commonly floating in the surface of swimming pools, whether screened, unscreened, or indoor, (e.g., gnats, mites, spiders, dust pollen, hair, pollution fallout, etc.).
Hand held skimming devices which usually involve some form of screening mounted on a hoop attachable to a pole are also inefficient against the smaller but omnipresent types of debris outlined above. It is the inability of all known swimming pool skimming devices to cope with this fine debris and surface scum in an efficient and effective manner that a need was manifest for an apparatus that improved upon all known existing devices and methods in an expedient, effective and inexpensive manner.
Several prior art devices have been devised to provide some form of pool skimming. U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,281 to Pansini discloses a leaf trap kit for swimming pools which includes an inverted, perforate basket which is fitted over the main drain outlet of the pool, a dome like housing open at its underside to admit leaves into the space between the housing and the inverted basket and leaving a top opening through which such leaves may be removed, and a vacuum cleaner head fittable over the housing to remove the leaves from the top opening of the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,281 to Perry et al discloses a skimmer assembly for swimming pools having a floating weir disposed in the housing for regulating the amount of water entering the housing from the skimming inlet and a filter basket is disposed in the housing with its open end communicating with the skimming inlet and a wall portion communicating with the drain inlet. An adapter member and a cover plate cooperate with the basic for selectively controlling the flow of water from the skimming inlet to the outlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,368 to Gates discloses a swimming pool skimming and vacuuming system including a passage plate for insertion in the passage interconnecting a pool filter to a pool. The passage plate has a skimmer weir positioned therein for drawing off scum from the upper surface of the pool. An aperture is formed in the plate for enabling automatic vacuuming of the pool while simultaneously enabling skimmer weir action to occur. A top mounting plate is secured in the skimmer well and contains a basket opening for enabling the top surface of the basket to be positioned in the plate. A regulator valve is connected to the pool suction pump for enabling the suction between the vacuum hose and the weir basket to be adjustably controlled.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,175 to Walczak et al discloses a drain guard and drain protection system. The system includes a surface layer having a ballast spread therealong, a drain opening extending through the surface layer, and a portion of the surface layer cleared of ballast, the portion outwardly extending from the drain opening to a drain guard.
Each of the above prior art devices rely on the pull of the pump suction to collect debris from the pool surface. Without some form of diversion, much of the debris circulates continuously around the pool, thus requiring expensive devices for collecting and discarding the many forms of debris which are caught by the pool surface. It is especially noticeable after a lawn is mowed since much of the dust and small particles of clippings inevitably settle on the pool surface. In southwest Florida, most of the pools are enclosed with a screen cage, which help to reduce floating debris, however, after each mowing, there is a surprising amount of dust, grass and insects which somehow make their way through the screens. Of course, if a swimming pool is not covered, the debris problem is worse.